Cake decorating is not really my forte, but I know enough to get the job done. I am probably more comfortable working with Fondant than frosting/icing. But this Barbie Cake is one cake design that is fairly easy to implement. If your child loves Barbies, maybe think about making this Barbie Cake or Princess Doll cake for their next birthday.
This Barbie cake design is nothing new. It has been around for quite some time. Also known as a Barbie Dress Cake, it is elegant, and sure to impress your friends, family, and of course that special recipient.
There are other designs that you can follow, but I find this “flower” design to be pretty easy. If I can do it, you can do it. Let’s get started!
Step 1: Gather the Ingredients and Tools
In order to make this Barbie cake, you need a handful of ingredients and tools. Some of them are necessary and others are optional.
- Cake – You will need lots of cake. At least 2.5 to 3 times a regular cake recipe. If you like using cake mixes, buy 3 cake mixes. Along with the necessary ingredients for the cake, eggs, water, and oil. You can also use your favorite from-scratch recipe. I have several cake recipes here on my website you can use too, like this chocolate cake, these strawberry cupcakes, or vanilla cupcakes. Just keep in mind you will need to triple the recipe probably so you have enough cake.
- Frosting – You will need lots of frosting. Enough frosting to go in between each layer, then to cover it completely, then to make the actual decorations. Use storebought buttercream or this homemade buttercream frosting recipe.
- Food coloring – This will come in handy to color the frosting. Unless you find some frosting that is already colored. I found it at my local Walmart or Kroger grocery store. You can find it online as well. The Betty Crocker Neon gel colors are what I used for this particular cake.
- Sugar pearl sprinkles – This adds a fun nice finishing touch to the cake, but is purely optional.
Tools
- 8-inch cake pans
- 6-inch cake pan
- Plastic wrap
- Piping bags (or use zip lock bags)
- 1M Wilton Star Tip or 2D Wilton Tip
- Wilton 21 small star tip
- Round Biscuit cutter
- Tweezers
- Parchment paper
- Cake board
- Cake pedestal, rotating (optional)
- You could get this cake decorating kit which has several of these items together.
Step 2: How to make a Barbie Cake or Princess Doll Cake
Begin by baking the actual cake layers for the Barbie Cake. You can use whatever cake recipe that you want. I have several here on my website that you can use. Or just use your favorite cake mixes, along with the required ingredients, like the eggs, oil, and water.
You will need double maybe even triple the amount depending on how tall your Barbie is. For this style and this standard-size barbie, you need 2.5 Cake Mix boxes.
I just keep the one cake layer that I don’t use and use it for something else, like cake pops or cakesicles.
Bake the cakes in 4 8-inch rounds and 1 6-inch round. I only own 2 8-inch rounds so I just bake them after each other. Bake the first set, then after they cool, bake the next set of cake layers.
NOTE: Make sure to grease and flour the pans and it is a good idea to put parchment paper on the bottom as well.
Once the cakes have been baked allow them to cool completely.
TIP: Cold cakes are easier to decorate. Once they have cooled, wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and store them in the fridge for a few hours before decorating. This is entirely optional but makes frosting easier.
Now take your chosen Barbie, I am using the Dreamtopia Barbie, and wrap her in plastic wrap from the waist down. This will protect her from the cake. Probably not necessary but I do it.
Step 3: Layer the Barbie Cake
Next, take your cake layers and you will need to use a round biscuit cutter or a knife and cut out a hole in the center big enough for your Barbie or doll to fit in.
Take a cake board and add some frosting to the middle then place the first layer down on it. The frosting will act as glue to hold the layer in place.
NOTE: A rotating cake pedestal is so helpful for decorating this style of Barbie cake. But it isn’t required.
Now add a generous amount of frosting on top of the cake layer and smooth it out. Repeat the process with the other layers. The top layer will be the 6-inch round, or you can use another 8-inch round.
NOTE: If you have any cake layers that are particularly mounded, you will want to level them off with a knife, a bread knife works great for this.
It is okay and almost wanted to have the very top layer be mounded, it helps with the design of the “cake dress.”
Stand the Barbie next to the cake and make sure you have enough layers.
Step 4: Trim, shape, and frost the whole layered cake
Time to trim and shape the Barbie cake. Use a trimmer knife or a bread knife, and start trimming the cake to create a “bell” or “dress” shape.
You can shape it however you like though. It may take a little practice to get it completely even all around. Don’t worry about that too much, when you first make one.
For this style I wanted it to have more of an angle on the back of the dress and more straight down on the front of the dress.
Once you have trimmed the cake, remove all the cake pieces and you can save those for cake pops or cakesicles as well. Clean the bottom of the board as necessary with a slightly damp paper towel.
Then using clean hands, or wear gloves, pat the sides of the cake, and press any cake crumbs in it. This also allows you to shape it a little bit too.
Now you need to frost the whole cake. Yes, you will be using lots of frosting for this layered Barbie dress cake.
You can frost it with whatever technique that you want. I like to pipe a bunch of frosting all around and then smooth it out.
There are several little tools to help with this. But you don’t have to buy all kinds of cake decorating tools. Use a normal cake spatula, or just a regular spatula if that is all that you have.
Once done, again clean off the cake board as necessary with a slightly damp paper towel.
Then set the Barbie in the middle of the cake. If your Barbie has really long hair you may want to tie it up with a twisty or something, so it doesn’t get in the way when you are decorating it.
Step 5: Decorating the Barbie Cake
Time to finally decorate the Barbie Cake dress. There are so many different styles and designs that you can do. For this particular one, I went with the popular “flower” dress design. I chose to use three colors a nice purple, pink, and neon pink.
Add some purple food coloring gel to a bunch of frosting. Then mix until well colored. Add more food coloring as necessary.
I like to use the double bag technique because it allows me to switch out frosting colors but use the same tip. Take one decorating bag and add the star tip to it. I use the Wilton 1M or 2D tips.
Take a different bag and add the purple frosting. Snip off the corner and then put that back in the bag with the tip.
Pipe on those flowers. To make the flower, hold the tip perpendicular to the cake. Press the tip to the cake, then pull up, squeeze and do a circle motion, which will create the small flower. Repeat next to that flower, etc.
After two purple lines of flowers, I switched to a strawberry frosting which is already colored. I pulled the purple bag out and added the bag of strawberry frosting to my star tip bag. Easy switching of frosting with the two bag technique. Then pipe on more flowers.
Next, I switched back to purple. I followed that up with a small star tip and a new bag. I mixed some neon pink frosting up and piped on smaller flowers at the top and up next to the Barbie’s waste. This will help cover any plastic wrap that may be showing.
Then if you like, you can pipe little stars in the gaps between the flowers, if any. I used neon pink and normal white frosting, with a small tip, to make the stars.
Now the Barbie cake could be done if you like. Or add a finishing touch.
There is a type of sprinkle called a sugar pearl that looks really cool on cakes and cupcakes. Using tweezers, grab the pearls and place them on the cake to finish her off.
Now she is done. Enjoy!
How long does the Barbie cake last?
This cake will last about 3 days at room temperature. You will want to loosely cover it with plastic wrap unless you have a cake keeper that is large enough to hold it.
Here are some other recipes you may like:
Big Hero 6 Baymax Peanut Butter Cups
Barbie Cake
Equipment
- 8-inch cake pans
- 6-inch cake pan
- Plastic wrap
- Piping bags (or use zip lock bags)
- 1M Wilton Star Tip or 2D Wilton Tip
- Wilton 21 small star tip
- Round Biscuit cutter
- Tweezers
- parchment paper
- Cake board
- Cake pedestal, rotating (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 full cake recipes like 2 to 3 cake box mixes plus the right amount of eggs, oil, and water to go along with it.
- 96 oz of white frosting some will be used for different colors (you wont need all of it)
- Food coloring
- Sugar pearl sprinkles optional
- Barbie Doll Not really an ingredient
Instructions
- Mix the cake batter and bake the cake layers. You will need at least 3 8-inch round layers and one 6-inch round layer. Use whatever cake box mix or from scratch recipe that you like. Allow them to cool completely before decorating.
- Wrap Barbie in plastic wrap from the waist down.
- Cut holes in the center of the cake layers with a round biscuit cutter or use a knife. The hole needs to be large enough for the Barbie to fit in.
- Add frosting to middle of cake board and add the first cake layer.
- Frost the top of the layer, then add the next layer, continue doing this until it is high enough for Barbie to fit in up to her waist. 4 to 5 layers depending on the thickness of your cake layers.
- Rotate and trim the cake into a "bell" or "dress" shape. Use a serrated knife or bread knife. Same the cake trimmings for cake pops or cakesicles. Use clean hands and shape the cake further and press any loose crumbs into the cake.
- Frost the whole cake with white frosting, or whatever color of frosting that you want. I use buttercream frosting. Clean off the bottom of the cake board with a damp paper towel. Place the barbie in the center of the cake.
- Decorate the cake however you like. For the flower design, use purple frosting, or whatever color you like, with a star tip (Wilton 1M or 2D). Starting at the base of the cake hold the piping bag and tip perpendicular to the cake touch the cake squeeze and rotate, it will create a flower. Continue doing this next to each of them until you have a few rows of flowers.
- Change colors of frosting if you like to give it more color and or different flavors of frosting. Do different flower designs too if you like.
- Pipe a different color and smaller flowers near the top and at the base of Barbie's waist. Pipe white stars in any gaps or use a different color.
- The Barbie cake is done, but you can add one final touch if you like. Add Sugar pearl sprinkles with tweezers all over the cake.
- Time to serve the Barbie cake. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Do you like the recipe? Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you wonāt miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.
Check out my other website 101 Creative Dates for fun date ideas. Food and dating go hand in hand!
So adorable ! I am so impressed to see this barbie cake. I love barbies so much.
Thank you!! glad you like this barbie cake!
I just made this and it turned out soooo great!!! Tons of compliments!! How do I upload photo here? Happy to do it so others can see. The directions are spot on and so are your colors! Thank you so much!! My 6 year old and I made it together!
Glad you made it and liked it!! There isn’t an option to upload the picture here. But you can show it on my Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/inthekitchenwithmatt/
sorry for the double post, just saw your answer, thank you so much! My 6 year old is super excited to make this with me, let’s hope it turns out!
No worries! Good luck! Definitely let me know how it goes. š
Iām going to try this for my daughters bday coming up! Can you send a link to the pearls and gel food coloring you used? Thank you!
Fun!! š Sorry, I thought I had the link in there. Here are the sugar pearls: https://amzn.to/3b7Bcoo and the food coloring https://amzn.to/3Bddy4y or https://amzn.to/3z6iLsk I didn’t buy them online, they had it at Walmart and my local Kroger Grocery store. So if you have either of those near you, give them a shot first. š Good luck! Let me know how it turns out.
Just like a real Barbie! It’s a nice cake you put together there, Matt. Thanks for sharing about it.
Thank you!! And you are welcome!
I’ve seen some videos but wasn’t really thinking to make it because I thought would be impossible. This is very cool!
Thank you!
My kids love princesses. They’ll be very happy to try this
Awesome!!
This Barbie cake is cute. I might not be able to make it though lol It look scomplicated
You can easily make it. If I can do it, you can do it! š Just follow the steps in the blog. š
This cake looks so yum nd cute at the same time, Little girls are gonna love this one! I remember I wanted one such cake when I was a kid. Happy memories! Thanks for sharing this incredibly delicious cake recipe.
Thank you!
I made this cake for my niece’s birthday and she loved it!! All she wanted to do was take pictures with this cake and “feel” the dress!! It was the cutest thing ever seeing her covered in the icing, this was the best dessert for the little party!!
That is so awesome!!! š
Oh wow, that looks so pretty. I don’t know if I could even start to imagine how to do that.
Thank you!
This barbie cake is so adorable! I am a photographer and this cake would be so cute for a 2 year old’s birthday photos!
Thank you, April!
I saw you post this on Facebook today! So perfect! Looks almost exactly like the one my mom made for me when I turned 8! Only difference is, you used a real Barbie! My mom used a doll pick, which was basically just the top half of a doll. You sure can’t play with that after! Love that you can still play with the cake decoration after eating the cake. Maybe someday I’ll have a little girl of my own and I’ll make this cake using your guidelines! Wrapping the doll in plastic wrap is so smart! For now I’ve just got boys and they aren’t really into Barbie cakes right now! lol… although the one wanted a LEGO angry Unikitty cake a few years ago… lol that was fun! Pinning this for my hopes and dreams…
Thank you so much!! š š Do your boys like Star Wars? You could make my stormtrooper cake š Or Spider-Man? I have a Spider-Man cake too. š
Oooh! Good idea! Spiderman and Star Wars are our favorites!!
Awesome!! š š š
The cake is so beautiful. And Iām just so impressed that somebody can make it
Thank you, so much!
This was one of my favorite cakes when I was little! I now love making it for my nieces too.
Awesome!!